If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Introduction, and tarp question for couples' hanging

Hi all,
I just joined today after lurking for a couple of weeks, and my head is spinning with all the information on webbing, buckles, ridgelines and two-way zippers. I don't even have a hammock yet! My husband and I have been talking about using hammocks to backpack in the White Mtns. (NH), where it's difficult to find a comfortable tenting spot. My other concern, besides making sleeping easier, is conserving weight. We currently have a 5# two-person tent, and I can see that hammocking for two may not beat that weight. But, I'm gathering estimates of the weights of the items we'd need to start hanging.

Which gets to my question: are any of you hanging two (or more) hammocks under one tarp, and how large is that tarp? How much does it weigh? Are you hanging the head-ends of the hammocks from the same tree, or the foot-ends?

I use double hammocks when my son and I go. I got the idea from Shane or maybe Jeff, I think, from the Yahoo Group. He had slaved two hammocks together with a strut or spreader bar and they hang from the same trees.

Basically you end up with two hammocks side by side, suspended from the same trees, with spreader bars keeping them separated. It takes a little bit to get everything aligned, you hafta adjust the bars and the hang of each hammock until it is where you want it. My son is 5 so I weigh considerably more than he does. So I start out with his hammock lower on the tree. Once you load them and adjust them a couple of times you can get them so they are right next to each other but not touching. It would proly be easier if the two ppl weighed close to the same. I use hiking poles for the spreaders.

You can also use three trees, Ed Speer has pictures of this on his site and in the Yahoo Group as well. I tie the feet of both hammocks to one tree and head to different trees. Depending on how close the trees are this works pretty well and is much easier to set up. Not as much adjusting to do. For two adults it's not a big deal I guess, but I am paranoid I will not hear Gage get up in the middle of the night for a nature call, so I gotta be super close to him. Which is why I use the other method more even though it is more work. YMMV

I use the 12 x 12 Guide Gear tarp to cover both hammocks, but you could easily use two smaller tarps to get the coverage you need, if you already have them that is.

I use double hammocks when my son and I go. I got the idea from Shane or maybe Jeff, I think, from the Yahoo Group. He had slaved two hammocks together with a strut or spreader bar and they hang from the same trees.

i believe that was youngblood's set up. good to hear from you hogn8r. ...tim

My wife and I have used a MacCat deluxe over two hammocks. However, the hammocks were literally right on top of each other. I think we need a little more practice doing it that way, but it certainly can work. I think the next time I hang with her, I am going to set her hammock so that it is above mine and slightly to the side if possible. This last time we had four trees that were really close and I tried to set them next to each other. I ended up slightly lower than her, but not enough to actually hang below her. The big problem we had was that it made it difficult to lay on a diagonal. However, it is difficult to say that the problem was that we were next to each other. My dogs insisted on sleeping in our hammocks too, and so that could have been the real issue.

This is what we do when my wife and I go. We just overlap our tow individual tarps. It has worked well for us so far

have you been in a heavy rain w/ that set up?
i'd be afraid that the grey tarp would collect & direct rain water right to the edge of the other hammock.
matter a fact, i could pretty much guarantee it my friend<g>.